Albizia niopoides (Benth.) Burkart, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Albizia caribaea (Urb.) Britton & Rose; Albizia richardiana King & Prain; Pithecellobium caribaeum Urb.; Pithecellobium niopoides Spruce ex Benth.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: silk tree

Spanish: gallinazo, gavilana, guanacaste blanco

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A medium-to-tall tree, 10 to 30 m in height and 35 to 100 cm d.b.h. The tree has a straight bole and glabrous young twigs which are greenish or yellowish with scarce lenticels. The crown is wide, round, extended, resembling that of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb. The bark is light gray or yellowish with exfoliating, thick scales in a concentric pattern; the scales leave crateriform scars which seem excavated with a chisel. Leaves are alternate, bipinnate, paripinnate; with 5 to 10 pairs of opposite pinnae, each with 30 to 55 pairs of pinnules (foliolules).  The leaf pinnules are (5-) 7-9 (-11) by 1 (-2) mm, linear, apex obtuse or acute, and glabrous. The petiole has a short pubescence and is pulvinate. The pulvinus is adaxial, basal, concave, and longitudinally oblong. The rachis is adaxially channeled, bearing an extrafloral nectary toward the distal end. The petiolules bear basal and adaxial pulvinuli. Stipules are 6 to 7 mm long, setiform, and deciduous. The fragrant, white flowers are grouped in pedunculate heads and are pentamerous, synsepalous and synpetalous. The calyx is tubular, distally toothed, and 1 mm long. The corolla is funnelform, valvate, and 2 to 3 mm long. The numerous stamens are basally united forming a tube. The anthers are small. The flowers are sometimes heteromorphic in the same head, and the central flowers have thicker staminal tubes and dimensions different than those in the marginal. The gynoecium is monocarpellar, and placentation is laminar. The numerous ovules are anatropous, bitegmic, and crassinucellate. The pod is laterally compressed (6 to 14 by 1 to 2.5 cm), straight, glabrous, thin, chartaceous, and longitudinally dehiscent. The pericarp is brown or yellowish brown and dull with an inconspicuous mesocarp. The endocarp is dull, whitish, and slightly septate, with many seeds, transverse, not overlapping, in one series. The seeds are ovate or oblong, laterally compressed, and without aril; the testa is thick, glossy, creamy or light brown, monochrome, hard, and osseous, with pleurogram, linea fissura open at the hilar end, and fracture lines. The funiculus is long, filiform, and whitish or light brown"  (adapted from E.M. Flores in: Vozzo, 2002; p. 277).

Habitat/ecology:  "The tree grows well in the dry tropical forests of the lowlands in Central and South America at elevations from 0 to 500 m, temperatures of 24 to 32 °C, and annual rainfall of 1000 to 2500 mm. The soils are alluvial, floodable but with good drainage, on plateaus and flatlands with slopes of 5 percent and moderate drainage. The species can reach higher elevations (up to 1200 m) and can be found in humid forests. Frequently, the tree is emergent in the canopy of primary dry forests. The tree's attractive form makes it suitable for shade and as an ornamental"  (E.M. Flores in: Vozzo, 2002; p. 277).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, Central and South America, West Indies (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) National Tropical Botanical Garden
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle (2012) (pp. 14-15) Voucher cited: OED 2000082501 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1999) (voucher ID: BISH 654101) Taxon name on voucher: Albizia niopoides (Benth.) Burkart

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Albizia niopoides, please let us know.